|
State hosting second public hearing on proposed change to water transfer certificate
Story Date: 1/19/2015
| |
Source: NCDENR, 1/16/15
State officials are hosting a second public hearing next week about a request to change an interbasin transfer certificate for several Triangle communities.
Cary, Apex, Morrisville and Wake County have requested a to take more water from the Haw River basin and transfer it to the Neuse and Cape Fear River basins, the basins that serve their communities. The communities are seeking more water to better accommodate projected growth and greater demands for water in the decades to come. An interbasin transfer certificate enables the movement of surface water from one river basin to another.
The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources is holding the hearing at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 22 in the Fayetteville City Hall, 433 Hay St.
The North Carolina Environmental Management Commission approved a certificate in 2001 allowing the utilities to transfer up to 24 million gallons of water per day from the Haw River basin to the Neuse River basin. The modification would authorize the transfer of up to 33 million gallons of water per day from the Haw River basin to the Neuse River basin and the Cape Fear River basin. In keeping with changes to state law, the requested amount is based on an average day during the month when water usage is the highest.
The Environmental Management Commission is scheduled to decide whether to grant the request at its March 12 meeting. Public comments will be factored into the commission’s decision.
If approved, the requested change would comply with recent changes to the interbasin transfer law and would follow the commission’s guidance to meet water supply needs projected for a 30-year planning period. The service area’s population is projected to increase by nearly 50 percent, from 170,000 to 250,000, during that same period.
As part of the request, the state required the towns and county to produce an environmental assessment and make that document available to the public. As evidenced in the environmental assessment, the changes are consistent with the towns’ and county’s long-range water resources plan developed in 2013. The changes are also consistent with the Jordan Lake Partnership’s 2014 “Triangle Regional Water Supply Plan,” which addresses projected water supply needs through 2060.
The plan has been adopted by all 13 members of the partnership, which include Apex, Cary, Hillsborough, Morrisville, Durham, Raleigh, Sanford and Wake County.
The environmental assessment can be found online at http://www.ncwater.org/?page=473. Copies also will be available at the public hearing and in the Raleigh offices of the N.C. Division of Water Resources, 512 North Salisbury St.
The N.C. Division of Water Resources is requesting written copies of any oral comments. Based on the number of people who wish to speak, the length of oral presentations may be limited. You may send written comments by email to harold.m.brady@ncdenr.gov, or by mail to Harold Brady, N.C. Division of Water Resources, 1611 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, N.C. 27699-1611. Mailed and emailed comments will be given equal weight. All comments must be postmarked or emailed by Feb. 5. The first public hearing on this request was Jan. 7 in Apex.
|
|
|
|
